NEW YORK (NYTIMES) - An eye drop that improves close-range vision could make misplaced reading glasses less of an inconvenience for many of the 128 million Americans who suffer from age-related deficits in near vision.
Vuity, which became available by prescription this month, is a once-a-day treatment that can help users see up close without affecting their long-range vision.
"For anybody who doesn't want to fiddle with reading glasses, this might be a really helpful alternative," said Dr Scott MacRae, an ophthalmologist at the University of Rochester's Centre for Visual Science.
Dr MacRae was not involved in the clinical trials for the drug, which was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in late October.
Nearly 90 per cent of US adults older than 45 have problems with close-range vision, a condition known as presbyopia that typically worsens over time.
To focus on close objects, the eye's lens must change shape, yet it becomes less flexible as people age, making this process difficult.
"Your ability to zoom in decreases," Dr MacRae said.
People who suffer from presbyopia often find that they need to hold a book at arm's length or turn on a bright light to read it, said Dr George Waring IV, an ophthalmologist and medical director of the Waring Vision Institute in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, who led Vuity's clinical trials for the pharmaceutical company Allergan.
Typically, eye doctors recommend that people with presbyopia wear over-the-counter or prescription reading glasses when they need to see up close, but Vuity may also be an option for them, he said.
Vuity's benefit over reading glasses is that it does not impair distance vision as reading glasses do.
Usually, when a person stops reading to do something else, they need to remove their reading glasses to see around them properly.
"That's the good part about this - the drops don't really affect distance vision under normal daylight conditions," Dr MacRae said.
Dr MacRae also noted that Vuity will work best for people who have only mild to moderate presbyopia, which probably means people between the ages of 45 and 55.
Vuity is not typically covered by health or vision insurance, and Dr Waring said it might cost around US$80 (S$109) per 30-day supply.
Although the clinical trials did not report any serious side effects, 14.9 per cent of subjects who took Vuity reported mild headaches, compared with 7 per cent of subjects who took placebo drops.
